The next Hearthstone adventure is nearly upon us. A few days from now One Night in Karazhan’s first wing will go live, and a bunch of new bosses, challenges and cards will once more be available for all of us to enjoy. A lot has been said about the adventure, especially regarding the card set. [card]Purify[/card]’s reveal sparked an outrage in the community for its incredibly low power level in a class that’s already deemed the weakest: Priest. Purify is, however, not the only card receiving negative criticism. The set as a whole seems underwhelming to many pro players, community figures and content creators.
Whether or not the card set turns out to be as underwhelming as some say, only time will tell. However, every set so far has had good cards, and those are the subject of this article. After making a spreadsheet and rating all the cards a top 5 revealed it, of cards in the set I expect to be the best. Of course I could be wrong. Perhaps it turns out there are some ‘sleeper card’ in the set, and that wouldn’t be the first time. With Goblins vs Gnomes, almost the everyone expected [card]Troggzor the Earthinator[/card] to be very strong (it wasn’t), while one of the most powerful cards ever in Hearthstone, [card]Dr Boom[/card], was overlooked by many.
But enough talking about the past, let's jump to the cards.
Honorable mentions
[card]Medivh, the Guardian[/card]
The main face of this expansion, Medivh is also one of the stronger cards released. However, I compare him mostly with [card]Kel'Thuzad[/card], in the sense that it takes a few turns to get decent value. Atiesh’ effect, reminiscent of [card]Summoning Stone[/card], is very strong. A downside is that it takes a turn to gain huge advantage from it. After playing Medivh you’re not going to have much mana left, and summoning a cheap minion is not something you want to do. The 7/7 body is far underpowered for 8 mana as well, so I consider Medivh as a win-more card.
[card]Netherspite Historian[/card]
More than a year ago Blackrock Mountain was released, introducing dragon synergy. It wasn’t until The Grand Tournament, though, that dragon decks were viable. Dragon Priest rose, and made it to the semi-finals at Blizzcon. Nowadays the aggressive Dragon Warrior is considered one of the stronger decks and is brought to many competitive events. Netherspite Historian allows some slower dragon decks to either smooth their curve (looking for an [card]Azure Drake[/card]) or add a nice finisher ([card]Onyxia[/card] to their hand.
[card]Kindly Grandmother[/card]
Prior to Standard, [card]Haunted Creeper[/card] was one of the most used cards as Hunter’s 2-drop. With Standard, [card]King's Elekk[/card] and [card]Huge Toad[/card] took its place, but the former will probably be replaced with Kindly Grandmother. Not only does the deathrattle make for a sticky minion, the spawned Big Bad Wolf also has a beast tag. This allows for synergy with [card]Houndmaster[/card] and [card]Kill Command[/card], something the 1/1’s from Haunted Creeper didn’t.
#5 - Barnes
Barnes fits right into a deck with a lot of powerful deathrattles and end-of-the-turn effects. Note that while it summons a copy of the minion; the actual minion itself remains in your deck. How does an extra [card]Sylvanas Windrunner[/card] sound? Or a [card]Ragnaros the Firelord[/card]? The deck most fitting for Barnes now would probably be N’Zoth Paladin. It runs both cards mentioned before, but on top of that [card]Ragnaros, Lightlord[/card], [card]Tirion Fordring[/card] and [card]Cairne Bloodhoof[/card] appear as well.
Many say that Barnes is overpowered, but I find him too inconsistent to say that. Sure, summoning a copy of a legendary is amazing. But if Barnes summons a 1/1 that doesn’t do anything, he is quite bad. In N’Zoth Paladin it might summon [card]N'Zoth, the Corruptor[/card] himself, or even [card]Doomsayer[/card]. Not something you generally want from Barnes.
#4 - Malchezaar's Imp
The discard mechanic of Warlocks has never really created a deck centered around it. [card]Fist of Jaraxxus[/card] is one of the tools ‘Discard-lock’ could utilize, but it wasn’t powerful enough. Life tap turned out to be slightly too slow to refill your hand in such an aggressive deck. With Malchezaar’s Imp, discarding cards can actually be a good thing for you. The discard is completely negated, as the imp draws an equal amount of cards you have discarded. This means that [card]Succubus[/card] draws you one card, but [card]Doomguard[/card] two.
I do think it’s unlikely Discard-lock will take off, though. But both [card]Soulfire[/card] and [card]Doomguard[/card] already see play in Zoolock, and Malchezaar’s Imp is a nice addition to it. No more awkward empty hand after using your burst, but a nice fresh start to continue establishing your dominance over the board.
#3 - The Curator
Alright, a 4/6 body for 7 mana is far from ideal. [card]Twin Emperor Vek'lor[/card] is almost never played if his battlecry doesn’t take place. However, The Curator’s case is a little different, as you (obviously) don’t play it to gain board advantage, but to cycle through your cards. If you build around it a little bit, it has the potential of being a 4 mana 4/6 taunt with [card]Arcane Intellect[/card] as its battlecry. [card]Azure Drake[/card]’s are very viable options for Midrange decks, and [card]Stranglethorn Tiger[/card] is not to be underestimated either. Depending on the deck [card]Sir Finley Mrrgglton[/card] could even be snuck in to further increase the value of The Curator.
Alongside [card]Brann Bronzebeard[/card], [card]Zoobot[/card] and maybe a [card]Menagerie Magician[/card] I see The Curator appear mostly in Highlander decks, also running [card]Reno Jackson[/card] of course.
#2 - Silverware Golem
Similar to the aforementioned Malchezaar’s Imp, the Silverware Golem tries to negate the discard effect, but in a different way. Rather than cycling, this stack of dishes jumps out the moment it’s discarded and joins your side of the board. In that sense there is a similarity between [card]Fist of Jaraxxus[/card] and Silverware Golem. There are some big differences though. A 3/3 on your side has to be dealt with, whereas 4 damage ‘just happens’. Moreover, the Silverware Golem can also just be played on 3 mana to gain some board presence. It’s not ideal, obviously, as it’s underpowered for its cost, but it’s not horrible either.
Much like Malchezaar’s Imp I see the Silverware Golem appearing in Zoolock decks, rather than a whole new discard archetype spawning for Warlocks. Playing a [card]Doomguard[/card] and getting a free 3/3 is some serious value, after all.
#1 - Menagerie Warden
Many people have already questioned why this card was even made. Former world champion James “Firebat” Kostesich had a rant on his stream, explaining why this card isn’t particularly ‘fun and interactive’, two things the Hearthstone development team says it values.
The synergy that’s arguably strongest is with [card]Stranglethorn Tiger[/card]. In most cases, your opponent can do nothing about the 5/5 lurking on your side of the board, allowing Menagerie Warden to target it almost always. As Firebat put it, you then create a 10/10 for 6 mana, and the Stranglethorn Tiger you had already in play can freely trade into opposing minions, costing no tempo loss at all. Even if you copy a [card]Mounted Raptor[/card] or [card]Druid of the Flame[/card] a lot of tempo is created. Also worth noting is the fact that the copied minion will keep buffs given by cards such as [card]Mark of Y'Shaarj[/card], possibly increasing the value even more.
Beast Druid will be a deck that sees play, and it’s solely because of this minion that it might even be a top tier deck. Pro player Thijs “ThijsNL” Molendijk already crafted his own, aggressive Beast Druid deck in June, and I’m 100% sure the deck will be revived once Menagerie Warden is available. With Secret Paladin having died out and [card]Mysterious Challenger[/card] sent back to the stables, Menagerie Warden is our new Dr. 6.